Starting and controlling device for electric vapor apparatus.



P. c. HEWITT. STARTING AND CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELECTRICVAPORAPPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 10, 1910.

1,1 10,548 Patented Sept. 15, 1914;

2. SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. G. HEWITT.

STARTING AND CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC VAPOR APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 10, 1910.

1,1 1@,548. Patented Sept. 151914,,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- o O i WITNESSES: IIVVENTOR NITED STATES Parlour OFFICE.

PETER COOPER HEWITT, OF RINGWOOD MANOR, NEW JERSEY, .ASSIGNOR, iBY MESNEI ASSIGNMENTS, TO COOPER HEWITT ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF HOBOKEN, NEW

JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

STARTING AND CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC VAPOR APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed April 11, 1902, Serial No. 102,336. Dividedand this application filed December To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER Coormz Hnwrrr, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Ringwood Manor, county of Passa c, State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Starting andControlling Devices for Electric Vapor Apparatus, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in starting and controllingapparatus for electric vapor lamps .of the class described in certainUnitedStates patents issued to me on the 17th day of September, and the3rd day of December, 1901. In operating lamps of this class, aconvenient way of starting the lamp is by causing a quick or suddenelectrical impulse to be impressed upon the lamp terminals, such impulsebeing of higher potential than that of the current with which the lampis to be operated after starting. This initial or starting impulse maybe caused by creating a quick break in the circuit of a reactance devicein series with the lamp, the circuit thus broken forming, before therupture, a short-circuit around the lamp. I have found that by causing aquick rupture of such a circuit between electrical contacts submerged ina non-conducting liquid such as oil, it is possible to produce asufiicient impulse for the purpose indicated without the use of large orcumbersome reactance coils and by very simple manipulations. In general,I have employed a main switch for closing the original short-circuit andan auxiliary snap switch for breaking the said circuit and producing theinitial starting impulse, the contacts of the snap-switch, or the entireswitch being inclosed in oil within an oil-tight receptacle. The coilsof the reactance device. may remain in the lamp circuit and serve as asteadying-resistance for the lamp.

By my present invention,.I provide a starting switch which is operated.automat1- oally when the. main switch is turned on, the automatic switchbeing so arran ed as to have the electrical contacts ,covere ,with oilas in the hand switch already described. I utilize the coils of thereactance devicefor bringing about this automatic. action, by formingtheminto windings .for a solenoid or an electro-magnet, the actuatingpart of Serial No. 596.601;

which is located outside an oil-tight receptacle within which theactuated part, whether core or armature, is contained. Throughthe-instrumentality of the core or armature, electrical contacts areactuated, generally through the medium of a quickbreak electric switch.7 The actuating coils are arranged in series with the lamp, but betweenthe coils and the lamp a short-circuit 1s provided, including thecontacts operated by the coils and also when need be including asuitable resistance. If desired, the coils may be so adjusted that theduration of contact will be timed so as to have a predeterminedperodicity for a given flow of current. Moreover, a time cut-out mayconveniently be located preferably in the shunt circuit. As soon,therefore, as the actuating coils are energized sufiiciently to separatethe contacts, the short-circuit is broken and when this rupture takesplace, an electrical impulse of'higher potential passing through thelamp circuit causes the lamp to start. The described starting device maybe combined with a conducting band or coating surrounding the lamp nearthe negative electrode and connected by a suitable conductor to theleading-in wire of the positive electrode or to the gound. .Whether thisis done or not, the reactance of the magnet or solenoid coils, when theyare properly proportioned may be enough to generate the requiredstarting impulse; and by virtue of the arrangement described, thisaction is automatic. After the lamp is started, the de- Patented Sept.15, 1914.

scribed short-circuit remains broken during the normal operation of thelamp, and the actuating reactance coils remain-in series with the lamp,holding the contacts apart, and incidentally serving as'asteadying-resistance for the lamp. Should the lamp circuit be broken orthe lamp be extinguished for any reason, thereby interrupting thecircuit of the actuating coils, the movable contacts of the switchWill'be released and re-enga ed with the stationary contacts thereof, tus closing the original short-circuit and restoring the initialconditions of the circuit. A'

second separaton of contacts will then take place, which, if the lamphas simply gone out, may cause a renewed starting of the lamp, whereuponthe lamp will continue to operate as before. If, however, the lampshould be broken, or fail to relight, the switch actuating coils will bealternately energized and reenergized after the manner of a vibratingbell-magnet. The action of the time cut-out in. the short-circuit thencomes in to permanently disrupt the short-circuit when the alternateclosing and opening thereof, as described, has. continued for apredetermined length of time. The time cut-out may be any suitable formof cut-out for the purpose, such, for instance, as the well-known timefuse. e

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which.

Figure 1 is a diagram of circuits and apparatus embodying my invention;Fig. 2 illustrates means whereby the actuating reactance,coils mayoperate a snap or quick- I break switch; and Fig. '3 is a detail view.

In the drawings, 1 represents an electric vapor lamp in which electrodes2 and 5- are suitably connected by leading-in wires 7 and 8,respectively, to the external'circuit represented by the wires 14 and15. A switch 3, of any desired construction, controls the circuit of thewires 14 and 15.

This is the main switch referred to in the foregoing part of thespecification and is generally operated by hand. The wire 14 includes,the coils 4 of an electro-magnet having an iron core, 6, adapted toact-upon an armature, 71, in proximity thereto. The armature 7l supportsmovable contacts, 72,

72, which are so related to the stationary contact-points, 81, 81, ofanelectric switch that when the coil 4 is energized so as to attractthearmature 71, the circuit is interrupted between the movable andthestationary contacts. The contacts referred to are included in a shunt orshort-circuit starting from between the coil 4 and the lamp 1 andextending from the wire 14 to the wire 15 through a resistance 11 and aand attracting in that way the armature 71.

The armature is attracted and the short circuit is broken. In Fig. 2, Iillustrate the means whereby this rupture of the circuit is causedthrough the medium of a' snap-' switch so that aquick break is produced,causing a sudden reactance in the coil 4. This causes an electricalimpulse .-of high potential to traverse the lamp circuit and resitsinqhe' h n 99 t ame I Fi s ar s 2-, the coils 4 are wound upon a coreof horseshoe shape, the poles of'the core being arranged outside acylindrical-casing, 16, containing oil. The shape of the'poles isclearly shown in Fig. 3. Inside the casing the armature 71 is arranged,the samebeing.

mounted on a spindle, 17, and being normally held in the positionillustrated in Fig. 3, by a spring 18. The spindle 17 is the actuatingspindle of an ordinary snap switch, the details of which need not befully illustrated.- The principal point is that when the spindle ismoved in one direction by the magnetization of the poles of the magnet4, the circuit shall be broken by a quick movement; While on therotation of the spindle in the opposite direction by the spring .18, thecircuit shall be restored.

This being the action of the apparatus, it follows that should the lamp1 become broken, orbe temporarily extinguished, the circuit between thepoints 7 2, 7 2 and 81, 81, which remains open during the normaloperation ofthe lamp, will be restored but im-' mediately broken againthrough the energi-- zation of the magnet 4. Thismayrelight the lamp,but in case of a permanent derangement of the lamp, the armature 7 willvibrate back and forth owing to the operation of the magnet 4 and thespring 18'alternately affecting the contacts. When the armature has-thusvibrated for 'a' predetermined length of time, the cut-out 12permanently breaks'the short-circuit and the entire system remains outof operationuntil it is properly restored to its original COIldl-rtion.- 5

This case is a division of my application Serial Number 102,336, filedApril 11,1902. 1 I claim as my invention: I 1. The combination with anelectrical translating device requiring an initial current of highpotential and a reactance devicein series therewith, of a shunt acrossthe circuit between the translating device and the reactance device, anautomatic switch adapted to cause a continuous succession of makesand-breaks, and a time cut-out in the circuit of the re actance device.

2. The combination'with an electric vaporlamp requiring an initialcurrent of relativelyhigh potential, a shunt around the said lamp, meansfor holding the shunt open when the lamp is in operation, and timecutout for breaking the shunt circuit when it remains closed for apredetermined period. 3. The combination with a gas or vapor electricapparatus requiring an initial or starting current of relatively hlghpotential, and a reactance devlcein series therewith,

of a shunt across the circuit between the ap r appa a u a t e reactanced vice, ma l ir i br ake v bra o said its 5 device being placed in suchrelation to each other that the reactance device will actuate the saidcircuit breaker or vibrator whenever the vapor'apparatus fails or ceasesto operate.

4. In an electric system, .an electric vapor lamp, a main switchcontrolling the circuit thereof, a reactance device in series with thelamp, a shunt across the circuit between the 'reactance'device and thelamp, a switch in the shunt circuit controlled by the reactance device,a time cut-out controlling the shunt circuit, the switch and thereactance device being so combined that when the reactance device isenergized the circuit of the-switch will be broken, and when reactancedevice is denergized, the switch circuit will be'closed.

5.- A vapor device comprising an exhaust- 1 ed container, electrodes insaid container, in-

cluded in the main operating circuit of the device, one. of suchelectrodes being a vaporizable liquid electrode, automatic means, forconnectin the electrodes when no current flows in t e device andautomatic means for breakin the conductive connection between the saielectrodes, said last named means including a magnet coil whereby saidcoil acts as an inductive resistance to the main circuit.

6. A vapor device comprising an exhausted container, electrodes in saidcontainer in- .cluded in the main operating circuit of the device, oneof suchelectrodes being a vapor-' izable liquid electrode, automaticmeans for connecting the electrodes when no current flows in the deviceand automatic means for breaking the conductive connection between thesaid electrodes includinga reactance in series with said electrodes.

' 7. A mercury vapor device comprising an exhausted container formercury, electrodes in said container included in the main operatingcircuit of the device, and electro-magnetic means operated by the maincurrent adapted to make and break metallic connection between theelectrodes and maintain the rupture of the said connection until themain current is interrupted.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York,this 7th dayof-December, A. D. 1910.

Witnesses WM H. Cam,

Tnos. H. Brown.

